Humpty Dumpty

We should be warned by the absence of the word ‘Christian’ from the Bible. Well, I say absence but in fact the word occurs three times in...

Take away pets and puzzles and domesticity is a desert. Adam did not have pets in the garden of Eden. Nor did he spend time on crosswords...

Disappointment: there’s no other word for it. We find ourselves distraught. We face a cheerless Christmas. The fell clutch of...

If you’re unlucky you have a birthday on February 29. Perhaps that is also true of those whose birthday falls on Boxing Day. You may get...

‘He had failed to find the source of the Nile; he had failed to put an end to the slave trade…. He had failed as a husband and a father.’...

Underdogs were among the first Christian believers. Paul reminded the readers of this when he wrote his first letter to the Christian...

‘Humpty,’ I said, ‘are you familiar with the word “idler”? ‘Yes. I’m a great reader of O’Brian’s books.’ In that case, I thought, Humpty...

‘What though the field be lost? All is not lost.’ And the rousing call to arms goes on: ‘the unconquerable will and study of revenge,...

It’s official! John Bunyan has a day of his own in the Church of England calendar. Each summer we celebrate a tinker’s son, an ex-soldier...

We love parades. It is a pleasure to watch them. If we have taken part in them, we may even have enjoyed the idea being on display....

‘When did your PCC last discuss communications, including your parish magazine and website?’ Southwell diocese is asking a bold question...

We forget when we use the word ‘God’ that, as Milton said, ‘his state is kingly.’ A king is not a solitary individual. He has a court, a...

‘Do not look gloomy,’ said Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6.16). He was plainly on the side of cheerfulness (which is not to...

December 25 happens to be Isaac Newton’s birthday. They say an apple set his brilliant mind going. So did a pebble. He likened himself to...